Many ready-to-eat foods are processed with mechanical means that consist of design aspects and materials that most often satisfy basic food grade safety standards and regulations set by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the USDA. However, recent studies have demonstrated human health safety hazards borne from contamination generated by clusters of foodborne infections, particularly during hot summer periods. Such infections generate population illnesses that usually arise from microbial agents such as pathogenic bacteria, viruses or parasites.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), each year about 10% of the world population become ill after having consumed contaminated food, and almost half a million persons will die as a result. The clusters of microbial outbreaks could be the result of improper farming practices or improper packaging routines, or even from deficiencies in the handling of food importation procedures.
Prior art food grade chain and disk assemblies consist of mechanical fasteners and geometric features that are often non-USDA compliant.